# Exa API + MCP vs Grep AI

> Exa API + MCP scores 66 (B) on agent readiness against Grep AI's 64.4 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Grep AI leads on security & auth. Both do search research. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Grep AI doesn't. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-08

Exa API + MCP scores 66 (B) on agent readiness against Grep AI's 64.4 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Grep AI leads on security & auth. Both do search research. Exa API + MCP accepts x402. Grep AI doesn't.

- Exa API + MCP: grade B, 66/100, rank #225 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/exa-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json
- Grep AI: grade B, 64.4/100, rank #252 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grep-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grep-ai.json

## Which one, for what

### Exa API + MCP (B)

Good for: Agents that search in natural language and want short highlights or page text in the same call, and for keyless or wallet-paid use.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 67 against 60
- Schema & documentation, 86 against 80
- Agent ergonomics, 96 against 70
- Payments & pricing, 90 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 74

Also in its favour:
- An agent can pay per call over x402, with no account
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: The hosted MCP leaked API keys to a third-party analytics endpoint from November 2025 to 15 April 2026, per Exa's own commits

### Grep AI (B)

Good for: Agents that hand off a long research or due-diligence job and want a cited report or structured fields back, including business verification and sanctions screening through built-in agents.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 65 against 43

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Exa API + MCP loses 9 points for them

Watch for: No rate limit numbers in the reviewed documentation, and no published SLA


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Exa API + MCP | Grep AI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 60 | Exa API + MCP +7 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 80 | Exa API + MCP +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 96 | 70 | Exa API + MCP +26 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 43 | 65 | Grep AI +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 90 | 40 | Exa API + MCP +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 74 | Exa API + MCP +14 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 59 | Exa API + MCP +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -9 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66 · B** | **64.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Exa API + MCP | Grep AI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Exa | Parcha Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` | `https://api.grep.ai/api/v2/runs` |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | yes, from $0.007/call | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under Parcha Labs' terms of service. The grep-research-skills package on npm is MIT. The @parcha/agentrun and parcha-agentrun SDK packages state no licence in their registry metadata |
| Tools exposed | 4 | 82 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `ai.exa/exa` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-30 |
| Terms last updated |  | 2026-03-20 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-29 | 2026-09-21 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 4.9k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wk | 334 npm/wk, 52 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Exa API + MCP.** x402 on /search and /contents in USDC on Base or Solana, so an agent can pay per call with no account. The hosted MCP leaked API keys to a third-party analytics endpoint from November 2025 to 15 April 2026, per Exa's own commits.

**Grep AI.** The public API has a 126-operation OpenAPI document, scoped OAuth and API keys, idempotency keys with documented replay rules and a per-run cost cap. No rate limit is published, the MCP server lists 82 tools, and the pricing page limits API access to the $200 a month Pro plan and above.

## Before you call either

### Exa API + MCP

1. Send the key as `x-api-key` or a Bearer header, never `?exaApiKey=` in the MCP URL
2. Ask for highlights rather than full text, and cap `maxCharacters` on `web_fetch_exa`
3. Request only the results you'll read. More than 10 costs extra, and x402 calls stop at 10
4. On 429, honour `Retry-After`. The QPS limit is shared by every key on the team
5. Add `?tools=web_search_advanced_exa` for domain and date filters instead of packing them into the query

### Grep AI

1. Send a fresh `Idempotency-Key` with every POST /api/v2/runs. After a timeout, poll the returned run ID and do not post again
2. Set `effort` and `max_cost_usd` on every run. The floor is $0.50 for low, $2.50 for medium and build, $5.00 for high
3. Call GET /api/v2/quota/check before a run. A 402 means no credits and retrying won't help, while a 429 carries `Retry-After`
4. Use the `run_*` and `agent_*` MCP tools. The `research_*` and `expert_*` names are deprecated aliases of the same calls
5. Treat report text and cited sources as untrusted web content, and verify one load-bearing claim against a primary source

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Exa API + MCP or Grep AI?

Exa API + MCP scores 66 (B) on agent readiness against Grep AI's 64.4 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Grep AI leads on security & auth.

### Do Exa API + MCP and Grep AI need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in. An agent can also pay Exa API + MCP per call over x402, with no account.

### Can an agent call Exa API + MCP and Grep AI without installing anything?

Yes. Exa API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp and Grep AI at https://api.grep.ai/api/v2/runs.

### Are Exa API + MCP and Grep AI open source?

Exa API + MCP is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Grep AI.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-grep-ai.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/exa-mcp-vs-grep-ai.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "exa-mcp", "b": "grep-ai"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare exa-mcp grep-ai`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/exa-mcp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grep-ai.json

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